Patrick Mahaffey: Master Engineer Dives into Real Estate

Patrick Mahaffey spent the better part of seven years at Texas A&M University getting two different engineering degrees. After putting his time in, he started his engineering career and eventually made his way to the oil patch in South Texas. During his move from Corpus Christi to San Antonio, oil prices started declining and work was slowing down. Luckily one of Patrick’s best friends from college, Mike Powell, had already been settled into San Antonio and was earning his stripes in the investment real estate arena, buying up as much as possible. Since he had enough time to kill in between jobs, Patrick asked if he could ride around town with him and see what this “house buying” gig was all about. Not knowing a THING about real estate (much less buying houses with cash, at a discount) he was confused but certainly intrigued! After countless questions over drinks, and eventually working his way to writing up a proper contract, it felt like something fun to do in his spare time.

With time passing and no positive correspondence from the engineering firms in town (mostly since Patrick was being difficult with his requests), he was asked to take up the real estate game full time. Since he’s about as analytical as they come, there weren’t enough books for him to read to understand this concept, and he certainly struggled with some of the simplest fundamentals, but he found my way to slowly buying a house or two, here and there.

Three years flew by and Patrick is working on holding onto his own notes for owner financing, and the lessons have been invaluable. It’s tough to measure the amount he’s learned in that time, since none of it would’ve ever ended up on my plate if he had continued the standard path of corporate life with a nine-to-five J-O-B. The business, financial, entrepreneurial, and general real estate knowledge/experience are tough to replace at this point.